Apple's iTunes music store will soon reach 10 billion songs sold since its inception in April of 2003, and is marking this accomplishment with a contest rewarding the purchaser of the 10 billionth song a $10,000 iTunes card.

As reports of forthcoming hardware refreshes continue to mount, Apple has braced its certified resellers for unusually long shipping times of two to three weeks for both models of its minute Mac mini desktop systems.

Speaking to a group of market analysts this week, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer repeatedly mentioned Apple, including a suggestion that a growing rate of Mac adoption is statistically insignificant.

Macs made up a whopping 91 percent of the $1,000 and up computer market in June, up significantly from early 2008 when Apple's premium market share was 66 percent, according to new data released this week.

Analysts are again bullish on Apple stock after the company reported a record third quarter in Tuesday's earnings report, and provided higher-than-expected guidance in some aspects of its fourth quarter.

While the consumer market continues to shine for Apple, bringing the company to another record quarter, sales in the education and professional markets have suffered for the Mac maker during the ongoing economic recession.